National CeaseFire Partnership

Under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention is: a) providing training and technical assistance to programs in several U.S. cities for the implementation of anti-violence programs based on the CeaseFire model; and, b) developing a national partnership of cities to reduce violence and learn from each others' experiences.

Chicago Project staff members have been helping Baltimore, Kansas City, Missouri, and Newark and Irvington, New Jersey, to implement the core components of CeaseFire. Additionally, staff members have had initial consultations with officials from Pittsburgh , Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Las Vegas about replicating parts of the CeaseFire model in their cities.

Site visits to these cities (or when officials visit Chicago ) can range from one day for consulting to a week for training and other assistance.

Chicago Project staff members have been traveling individually and in teams to assist in developing and launching these unique anti-violence programs nationally. An extensive training manual developed by Chicago Project staff reiterates and amplifies topics covered in the training.

Most of the training is focused on implementing effective outreach work – how to identify and connect with the most at-risk individuals, as well as how to interact with the community in general. The training covers five basic topics essential to successfully implementing and maintaining the street-level outreach that is at the heart of CeaseFire:

• Communication Techniques
• Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction
• Crisis Intervention and Conflict Mediation and Resolution
• Anger Management
• Community Engagement